Estac Troyes goalkeeper Zacharie Boucher was seen training with the rest of the Madagascar squad ahead of their AFCON 2027 qualifiers clash against the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 34-year-old, born in Saint-Pierre, Reunion, France, has played in the top two tiers of French football throughout his career before getting a debut call-up to coach Corentin Martins’ Madagascar squad last week.
However, the invitation was met with pushback from several Malagasy football fans, as they feel Boucher has no business donning the colours of the National team.
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Madagascar’s Boucher training ahead of Super Eagles clash
The pushback happened after an old interview of the goalkeeper surfaced on the Internet, where he claimed he was French and had never considered himself Malagasy. He also said that if Madagascar’s coach called him, his answer would be no.
Due to this, several reports confirmed that the experienced goalkeeper would be dropped. The Berea arrived in Nigeria on Monday to begin preparations as they look to cause an upset at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Friday.
However, Soccernet.ng can exclusively reveal that the former Auxerre goalkeeper wasn’t dropped. He was, in fact, in action during the team’s tactical sessions that lasted 15 minutes, from 5:00 PM to 5:15 PM.
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Martins’ players had a recovery session after their arrival yesterday, and today, Boucher trained alongside other goalkeepers Geordan Dupire and Nina Rakotoasimbola, while two other players trained separately.
More to follow…
